‘We punch above our weight’

The swiftness of Vice Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman’s response to this newspaper’s request for her to compare the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to other armies in this region would give anyone watching the interview the impression that she had anticipated the question.

“We are the absolute number one, most competent force in this region!” the chief of defence staff (CDS) declared without a moment’s hesitation, her voice resonating with authority and unwavering conviction.

“And in our weight class, globally, we punch way above our weight. Just like Jamaica,” she added, her face glowing with pride.

“It’s the Jamaica Defence Force, enuh. Just like how Jamaicans punch above their weight in everything, we do the same. We have trained persons from African countries, South American countries, Europe, right here in JDF,” Jamaica’s military leader boasted.

She pointed to the role JDF soldiers have been playing in the United Nations (UN) Multinational Mission to help stabilise neighbouring Haiti which has, for years, been embroiled in political and social conflict made worse by criminal gangs which have unleashed violence across large swathes of the capital Port-au-Prince, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. The gangsters have also been accused of brutal rapes, looting, and kidnappings.

The UN, which recently reported that the gangs have expanded their influence beyond Port-au-Prince, has approved the deployment of a new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) to replace the under-equipped and underfunded Multinational Mission.

“We had three different groups of deployment under the Multinational Mission,” Wemyss-Gorman told the
Jamaica Observer last Friday, adding that the JDF has been asked to commit soldiers to the new Gang Suppression Force.

“They did ask, and just to prove to you that JDF punches above its weight, they asked us to do the training of all the forces for the gang suppression force. So that’s what we’re doing now. They also asked us to provide the deputy force commander and some key elements in the command structure,” she said, adding that soldiers from a number of countries, including Chad, Mongolia, Guatemala, and El Salvador will also serve in the GSF.

Wemyss-Gorman, who will continue to serve in the role of CDS until 2028, is looking forward to the official launch of her memoir, titled Life, duty and command, scheduled for Sunday, May 31, 2026 at Jamaica Officers Club, Up Park Camp, the JDF headquarters in St Andrew.

The book, already available in digital format, gives insights into her life growing up in Top Alston, Clarendon, through to her years in the JDF — from the day she enlisted to January 2022 when she made history by being appointed the only female head of an armed force globally.

Wemyss-Gorman is encouraged by the “positive reactions” to the book she has received so far from people who have purchased it online.

“A lot of people are relating to the fact that they grew up in rural Jamaica [and] they didn’t see that side of me. Some of the responses are that they knew that I would have had a difficult journey,” she told the Observer.

Her hope, though, is that the book will inspire readers to think big and work at overcoming obstacles.

“My hope is that any Jamaican, any little girl, any little boy [can realise that they] can do and achieve whatever they put their mind to,” she said.

“Even though I didn’t set out to be CDS — I didn’t know I had limits and so I just thought I could do whatever it is that I put my mind to and this is where I got, and I’m an ordinary country girl who still thinks I’m running around on the banks of the Cave River; that’s the thing I wanted — to inspire people to understand that where you start is not your ceiling. You can achieve whatever you put your mind to,” declared Wemyss-Gorman.

Jamaica’s Chief of Defence Staff Vice Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman is all smiles as she boasts that the Jamaica Defence Force is the most competent force in this region, during an interview with the Jamaica Observer last Friday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)